The Queen was "delighted" to take part in the James Bond scenes during the Olympics opening ceremony - in her first film appearance.

She played a starring role in Danny Boyle's £27 million production with Daniel Craig as James Bond - with pre-recorded film footage showing the pair appearing to skydive into the stadium.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said the Queen was "very happy" to take part and was "delighted to be asked to be involved in something so exceptional".

The show-stealing moment eclipsed the Queen's formal contribution to the night in which she opened the Games, telling the world: "I declare open the Games of London, celebrating the 30th Olympiad of the modern era."

In the movie scene, audiences watched 007, played by Daniel Craig, walking into Buckingham Palace surrounded by corgis to pick up the Queen, who was sitting at her writing desk.

She greeted him with the words "Good evening, Mr Bond", then the pair apparently boarded a helicopter which flew across London to the stadium.

They parachuted down to the ground, but at the last moment - and in real-time - the Queen appeared in the arena to take her seat to cheers and applause.

The spokeswoman said the Queen was approached in 2011 asking if she would take part.

She was "very happy" to get involved and the sequences, directed by Danny Boyle, were filmed in March and April this year.

The director previously said the Queen had "made herself more accessible then ever before".